Water Balance Questions After New Fill

[tdough21]

Hello,
I am having water balance issues and I want to make sure I'm following the right steps to correct it. I filled my pool from my well which has iron in it and after filling it, the water was dirty (brownish) looking so I ran my sand filter pump a couple days to clear it up. The water looked pretty good so I proceeded to add the required salt for my pool and let the pump run for another day at which time all the salt was dissolved. I then turned on my SWG and set it for 5 hours. The next day the pool looked like someone made some green tea in it. The water was clean, but was tinted a light green. I'm thinking iron in the water, but I also forgot to disconnect the copper bars on the SWG so maybe that contributed as well. I only had water test strips at the time, but they revealed that my PH was high (off the charts) and so was the TA. I knew I needed a better way to test my water so a bought a Taylor K-2006. I performed my first PH test yesterday and my PH was in fact off the charts. So I did the test to determine how much muriatic acid to use to get the PH down and then added the acid to my pool with the pump running. I'm going to recheck the PH today to see if it worked, but I just want to make sure I'm proceeding in the right order. Here are some questions I have.
1. Should I balance the water (PH and TA) before adding chlorine to the water?
2. Was I correct to start with getting the PH right before anything else?
3. My pool holds around 5,000 gallons of water, but with backwashing and evaporation the water level is down a good 8 - 9 inches. Should I add more water now or wait until I get the current water balanced?
4. Should I use my SWG for initially adding chlorine or should I use bleach?
5. Should I get a complete set of tests from the K-2006 before doing anything else?

Thanks.

 

[JVTrain]

Welcome to TFP!

A full set of test results would be best first.

You were right to start with the pH. Mostly because at high FC levels, that you'll need now to clear the pool, the pH test is not accurate (above 10 ppm FC).
Get some bleach (FC) in the pool as soon as you have checked the pH and used muriatic acid (and the Pool Math link) to reduce the pH. Without bleach in the pool, it will only get worse.
You'll also need some stabilizer in the pool, aka cyanuric acid. Use Pool Math again and add enough to get you to 30 ppm FC. Do this right away while adding bleach. Put it in a sock and suspend in front of a return. Run your pump 24/7 until it dissolves. You'll need to run 24/7 for the process of clearing your pool.
TA, we can help you work through later. It's important, but not until your water is properly sanitized with bleach.
Wait to use your SWG until after you've dealt with the algae that's starting. Plain, unscented bleach is the answer right now.

Check out ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry and the SLAM procedure in my signature that you'll need to perform to deal with the green.

 

[tdough21]

I tested the PH again today and its now at 7.6, so the acid worked. I don't think I have an algae problem as my pool is now clear again. It only turned light green after I ran the SWG with the copper rods operational (forgot to disable them) for 5 hours. I only had test strips at the time and the chlorine level was around 1 - 2. Now that I have zero chlorine the water is clear again, so I'm guessing it's a reaction to the iron in my water. I did a complete test with the K-2006 today and here are the numbers
FC = 0
PH = 7.6
TA = 300
CH = 225
CYA = 0

We had a good rain here today, so not sure how that impacted these numbers. It's also been cool here, my water temp is 69 degrees. It's supposed to get hot the next 2 days 90-95, so I need to get going on this. What should I do next, add bleach and cyanuric acid?

 

[JVTrain]

Yep. You're on the right track. With TA that high, you'll likely be dealing with some fast pH rise over time. By using acid to lower pH to 7-7.2 when it rises above 7.8, that will bring the TA down.

Sent from mobile device. Beware of brevity and spelling errors!

 

[mgmoore7]

you need to get some cya and chlorine in your pool fairly soon otherwise you might get some growth that you don't want. You'll start by using granular cya.. put it in a sock pand letting it dissolve in front of
qthe return or in the skimmer Target 30 or so for now and then It will take a day or 2 before it registers on your test.

- - - Updated - - -

Let me clarify my statement. CYA and Chlorine don't stop the growth, just Chlorine. The CYA keeps the Chlorine from dissipating so quickly in the sun and with zero CYA, your Chlorine will dissipate quickly once the sun is out.

 

[tdough21]

I added 2 1/2 cups of 5.25 bleach and within a 1/2 hour my water turned light green again. I got my brush out and started sweeping the floor and I could see a fine dirt coming up which caused the pool to turn cloudy green, but I could still see the bottom. As I am new to this, could that be algae? Also my PH went back up to 7.8. I think I'm going to shock the pool with bleach. Are you saying I should raise my FC level to 30 to kill the algae?

- - - Updated - - -

to get to 30ppm FC, pool math says I will need over 2 gallons of bleach! Wow! I need to go to the store.

 

[JVTrain]

Water turning green or yellow immediately after adding bleach usually indicates the presence of iron in the water. You may also have algae, the dust/dirt looking material that clouded up when you brushed the pool bottom. What I would do is SLAM the pool. You need to get some CYA in the pool (target 30 ppm CYA) and follow the SLAM procedure. After you've eliminated any algae and passed the SLAM criteria, then we can help you deal with the metals problem.

 

[tdough21]

I added the bleach I had left here at home (1 quart) and the FC is now 3.8. I have uploaded a couple of pictures showing the green tint and green foaming stuff in the skimmer

 

[JVTrain]

Certainly looks like iron to me. Once you verify you don't have algae in your pool through the SLAM procedure, then you can worry about removing the iron.

 

[tdough21]

OK, thanks. Off to the store for more bleach and cyanuric acid. Darn I was really hoping to swim in it this weekend, supposed to be really hot here.

 

[JVTrain]

If you can see the bottom clearly and your FC is below the shock level from the CYA/Chlorine chart, your pH is between 7.2 and 7.8, you can still swim. Your water is not perfect but still safe to swim. The important part is that you can see the bottom. If you add enough CYA to target 30 and your FC is less than 12, you can swim. It might be a little harsher on your swimming suit, but not much. You might also want to keep the blondes out of the water though... could get some green hair from that iron and/or copper in the water.